SC refuses to entertain Sisodia’s bail pleas

New Delhi: In a setback to former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain his bail pleas in the cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

The apex court, however, said Sisodia can revive his petitions for bail after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) file their final prosecution complaint and charge sheet, respectively, in the cases involving alleged corruption and money laundering.

A prosecution complaint is the ED’s equivalent of a charge sheet. The top court had on October 30 last year dismissed Sisodia’s regular bail pleas in the cases but given him liberty to approach courts for relief if there was a change in the circumstances or trial got protracted.

A vacation bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta noted the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED and the CBI, that the central probe agencies would file their final prosecution complaint and charge sheet by July 3. “In the light of the said submissions made and having regard to the fact that the period of ‘6-8 months’ fixed by this court by order dated October 30, 2023 having not come to an end, it would suffice to dispose of these petitions with liberty to the petitioner to revive his prayer afresh after filing of the final complaint/charge-sheet as assured by Solicitor General,” the bench said in its order.

It added in the event of such a bail application being filed, the same would be considered on its own merits as already observed by this court in the October 30, 2023 order. “Contentions of both parties kept open. Accordingly, these petitions stand disposed of,” the bench said.

During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, sought bail for him, saying trials in these cases have not yet started despite the politician being in custody for nearly 15 months. He said the trial is unlikely to commence in the near future as investigations are still going on with the agencies filing supplementary charge sheets just two weeks ago. Singhvi pointed out that the ED has cited 162 prosecution witnesses and filed 5,000 pages of documents in the case, while the CBI has cited 294 witnesses and filed 31,000 pages of documents in the case.